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SMALL FLATS - HENLEY Farm...
Wiping her face with a bandanna, Anna trotted her horse forward until the rope went taut. Now feeling the horse take the weight of the dead animal, she coaxed it to work harder. Slapping it on its hind flank, she watched Jesse work with a long pole to help get it moving. Once the animal broke its grip with the river bank, she rode the horse clear of the river and pulled it onto dry land. Jumping down off her horse and patting it for all its good work, she looked over her saddle and watched a group of riders coming toward them.
"Looks like we've got company," Jesse said. "Wonder if it's the ones from last night coming back to finish off the job."
Hearing him and thinking the same herself, Anna pulled her rifle from her saddle and stood beside him. "You armed?"
"Didn't think I'd need it," Jesse swore. "I left it in the barn with my things."
Not taking her eyes off the riders, Anna didn't recognize any in the group. Whoever they were, they hadn't come from Small Flats. Clicking the mechanism on her rifle, Anna pointed it the oncoming riders. "If they think they're back to do that, then I'm afraid they're sadly mistaken."
Seeing the lead rider hold up his hand for the group to slow, Jesse shook his head. "I don't think this crowd is here for that. Might be just me, but this lot look a little on the cautious side."
"Cautious or not. No one comes onto my land and thinks they can do what they want." Walking out to meet the riders, Anna waggled the tip of her rifle at the lead rider and found him stop his horse. "Come back to finish off the rest of the herd?"
"We're just here to talk ma'am," the rider said, holding his hands high.
Nodding her head behind him, Anna kept her eyes on the man. "You from the rail road?"
"I am. Well, we all are," the man said, looking to the group that accompanied him.
Anna pointed her rifle back the way they'd came. "Do us both a favor and go back where you came from, you're not welcome here-"
"Miss Henley?"
Anna looked past the first rider and trained her gun on the stranger who trotted his horse toward her. Copying his partner's movements, he held his hands high and forced a smile. Cocking a thumb to the other rider, he added, "As he said, we're not here to do you any harm."
"Tell that to the six cattle you killed last night," Anna said. "Come here with your railroad and think you can do what you want-"
"That had nothing to do with me. I didn't know anything about it—You mind?"
Anna watched the man put his hands on his saddle and then slowly dismount from his horse. Keeping his eyes trained on the gun at all times, he put his hands back up as he stood beside his horse. "I'm John Williamson. I'm in charge of-"
"And?" Anna asked, looking the man over. Although attractive and well built, she wasn't going to let his attractiveness or white smile win her over.
"I'm here to talk-"
"About what?" Anna asked and saw him motion to the gun in her hand.
"You mind pointing that toward the ground," John asked.
"You mind getting back on your horse and riding away," Anna said and kept her gun trained on him.
"Alright then, but can I?" John motioned with his hand toward his jacket pocket. "I'd like to compensate you for the loss of your cattle."
Keeping her hand on her gun, Anna watched him pull a small leather wallet from his pocket and hold it out. "I'd like to make up for what my men did to you-"
Still feeling like he was trying to use his charm on her, Anna shook her head. "Don't give me that bull-"
"Seriously Miss Henley, I know what you're thinking, and frankly, if I was in the same situation as yourself I'd be thinking the same. But I promise you, this had nothing to do with me," John said and motioned to the two riders that came with him. "Or these gentlemen here. The people who came onto your land are long gone, you won't be seeing them ever again. —I promise, I'm just here to make things right between us."
Again flashing her a smile, Anna lowered her gun and pointed to the two men he came with. "If that's true, you can tell them to go back where they came from."
"I don't understand?"
"If it's true what you say, and you're in charge, we don't need anyone else in this discussion," Anna said and watched him think it over. Looking like he agreed with what she'd said, he nodded to the man to the left of him.
"You can head on back without me, Peter-"
"You're sure?"
"I'll be back as soon as Miss Henley and I have come to an agreement," John replied. "Now off you go-"
"And take his horse." Anna smiled on seeing the expression on John's face change. "You're not in a hurry, are you?"
"Well, no, but-"
Anna nodded to the one called Peter. "He's got a few jobs to do before he goes back-"
"Jobs?" John asked.
"You've come at the right time; me and Jesse here were just in the process of getting rid of the dead cattle. You said you were here to make things right?" Anna said and grinned as his expression on his face changed. Now without a smile, she watched him nod once more to his men and watched them ride off and leave him on his own.
"I hope you've had your breakfast," Anna grinned and lowered her gun. "Because you've got a lot of work ahead of you."
*****
WIPING AWAY THE SWEAT from his forehead, John got back to digging the hole he'd been put in charge of. Tossing the loose earth over his shoulder with a shovel, he groaned as his shovel once again hit rock. Working his way around it, he noticed a shadow fall over him and looked up. Standing at the edge of the hole, he found the ranch hand offering him a canteen of water.
"Drink some before you pass out."
John took the canteen and took a long drink. Handing it back, he found the man smile at him.
"What's so funny?"
"You do know we're not burying the cattle?"
"What? So, she...?" John asked and found the man grin once more. Standing aside, he pointed to Anna. "She was testing you to see how serious you were about fixing things."
Watching her work, pulling a dead carcass after her horse, John wiped away another bead of sweat that ran down the side of his face. Seeing the pile of cattle she'd put together, he let out a sigh of relief. He was only halfway through his first hole and dreaded to think of the others he would have had to do. "I don't understand?"
"Well, I guess she wanted to know if you were a man of your word," the man grinned and held out his hand. "I'm, Jesse Deal."
"John," John said and shook Jesse’s hand. Pulled out of the hole, he watched Anna pour some liquid over the bodies before tossing a match on it. Watching the flames grow toward the sky, John turned on hearing a question.
"So, what was with the huge explosion yesterday?"
"Explosion?"
"That huge one that shook this place. You trying to blow us all to kingdom come."
John shook his head and kept his eyes on Anna. Watching her work on the fire, he found he couldn't take his eyes off the woman. Not expecting to find a woman of such attractiveness out in the middle of nowhere, he found himself smiling at her plan. Realizing what he was up against, he knew he'd have to know the woman better before coming up with a plan of action. Now that he had Jesse talking to him, John thought he might use it to his advantage.
"We had an accident. One of the newcomers put three cases of wet dynamite in our stock pile."
"You're joking-"
"I wish I was," John said and turned back to watch her at work. "What can you tell me about her—Miss Henley?"
"Anna? Not much. I've only been here a few days myself and I'm still trying to work her out. Although her sisters are friendlier." Jesse smiled.
"Sisters?"
"She shares this place with her two sisters. They've been running this place since their father died, although it's Anna that makes all the decisions around here," Jesse said and started to rub his head. "That thing you said about those men, them being gone-"
"They're gone. I warned them that if I saw them I'd have the law on them-"
"Pity," Jesse said. "I would've liked to have repaid them for what they handed out to me last night."
John looked at him and apologized. "As I said, that had nothing to do with me. I don't know what idea they got in their heads."
"Pity."
"So, what can you tell me about her?" John said, finding it hard not to tear his eyes off Anna as she worked.
"You asked me that already,” Jesse grinned.
“Did I?” John asked, lost in watching Anna again.
“There used to be an old farm hand that worked here, but he got beat up the other night, that you as well?"
John looked at him and shook his head. "What? No. Never." Then seeing the cattle, he knew he was a fool for thinking that it could have been anyone else. "Oh, God, no."
"Well, from what I can see, things had been going badly even before you and your lot came here. But I can't say you've made their lives any better."
Coming from a wealthy family that supported him and given him a good start in life, he felt a sense for admiration for what Anna was trying to do. Seeing her small herd of cattle as he rode in, he got the impression that she didn't have much money to play with. Wondering if she was doing it for her father, he knew they'd a lot in common. Left with his own father's plan of what he wanted his railroad company to be, John had tried to make it a reality. How well he was doing, he wasn't sure anymore. Turning to Jesse, he asked, "You believe me about the cattle, don't you?"
Jesse nodded his head. "Seeing you busy with that shovel told me enough about you. But I think you're still holding something back."
"On what?"
"I've seen men like you, ones that have a lot of cash. You could have thrown a handful of cash on the ground and rode off with a clear conscience. But you didn't—there's something else bothering you."
John kicked a pebble at his feet and watched it disappear. "You probably know that we bought the Kearney farm."
Jesse nodded his head. "Anna told me."
"Let's just say that it wasn't one of our better moves. It's taking us longer to cut through the hillside on the land than we thought it would. Now because of that, we're falling behind on our schedule. Then thrown in the loss of explosives, and I'm sure you can see that our job got worse. I was wondering if Anna would reconsider our previous offer and allow us to divert across her farmland instead."
"Best of luck with that. If you'd come here a few days back, I bet she would have taken you up on the offer," Jesse said and laughed out loud.
"And now?"
"I hope you can talk as well as you can dig," Jesse said and patted him on the back. "Because you're going to need it."
*****
JOHN STOOD BEHIND ANNA as she worked on tying up her horse and waited until she’d finished. On the verge of speaking, he found her speak before he did.
"Never seen someone tying up their horse, Mr. Williamson?"
"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you," John found himself reply. Wondering if she was enjoying her hold over him, he cleared his throat. "I was going to say-"
"You eaten, Mr. Williamson?" Anna asked, turning to him.
John shook his head. "Just breakfast this morning. I'll get something when I go back-"
"It's up to you," Anna said.
Watching the woman walk away, John realized he was being invited in for a meal. Cursing the delay between his brain and mouth, he ran to catch up with her. "I'm sorry. I should have said that I'd be honored to stay for something to eat."
"Well, there's some water over there," Anna pointed to a water pump nearby. "You'll probably want to freshen yourself up before eating. Once you're done, come inside." Leaving it at that, she walked off and left him thanking her back.
Going to the water pump, John looked at his reflection in the water bucket that sat under it. Looking at the blackened face that looked back at him, he felt embarrassed by his appearance and quickly splashed a handful of water over his face and rubbed it away. Checking his appearance once more, he found himself wonder why he was going to all the trouble. Not one to worry about his appearance while working with his men, he found a sudden need to clean himself well. Coming to Anna's farm with a plan of action in mind, he now found himself totally on the back foot. Wondering if it was due to her beauty or strong will, he found himself shake his head at the face that looked back at him.
"She's just a woman, John. You've seen enough of them in your day. Now get a grip of yourself." Clearing his throat, John walked to the house and tried to keep his thoughts on only one thing. His reason for being there. But the more he tried, the more he found he couldn't get Anna to leave it.